Community OR — Five Years of Organised Activities and Beyond

What has become known as Community Operational Research has been around in the UK for many years. The election of Jonathan Rosenhead as President of the UK OR Society in 1986–87 was the catalyst for bringing together and expanding activities which had been carried out largely by individuals working in isolation on a voluntary basis. The following five years have seen the establishment of the Community OR Unit at Northern College, the Centre for Community OR at Hull University and the Community OR Network, which supports the activities of volunteer OR workers across the UK. This paper reviews the range and types of work which have been undertaken by various practitioners. An assessment of the success of community OR is made and a number of issues which have arisen are discussed. Finally, given the diverse nature of community OR, its practice and practitioners, there is some discussion about the future of the area.     

Wanted: Dead OR Alive—Ways of Using Problem-structuring Methods in Community OR

Problem structuring has often been seen as providing an appropriate framework for Community OR; from our point of view the question to raise is not how to choose the best method for any particular situation, but how to act on opportunities to use different methods in practice, i.e. making the process the central focus. In this paper we examine our use of problem-structuring methods in the context provided by postmodernist poststructuralist ideas in some Community OR (COR) case studies. In particular this paper will:

• • scrutinise the notion of 'problem' and suggest that it might open a larger space for action and choice to recast this in terms of issues;

• • show the applicability of issue-structuring methods in combination with other participatory methods, e.g. rapid appraisal and action methods, especially in the context of evaluation, which most of our case studies will be concerned with;

• • illustrate the possibilities of mixing and matching different parts of different issue structuring methods in practice.

In this way we demonstrate some ways in which the practice of OR can be revitalised, in particular through a re-conceptualisation of the notion of 'praxis'.     

Development Options for a Rural Community in Belize — Alternative Development and Operational Research

This paper describes a project undertaken in Belize, Central America, to look at development options for a rural community. This paper begins by providing a background to Alternative Development, and OR'S relation to it. It outlines the methodology adopted in the project (Rapid Rural Appraisal) and provides a discussion on the use of this method in conjunction with problem structuring methods in the under-developed countries.     

乡村社区餐厨产品设计研究初探

随着中国城市化进程的加快,中国乡村社区经历着巨大的变迁。变迁中的乡村社区,人们的生活形态也发生了很大的变化。2008年实施的"家电下乡"政策,由于企业对乡村市场的长期忽视,导致现有一些产品未能完全满足乡村社区人们的生活需要。论文从变迁中的乡村社区入手,通过对乡村社区人们餐厨生活和现有餐厨设施、产品的调查分析,进行相关的设计研究,为乡村社区餐厨产品的设计提供理论依据,同时为企业开辟农村市场提供参考和借鉴。     

OR challenges and experiences from solving industrial applications

When decision support systems are implemented in practice, a number of special aspects and requirements must often be considered. From an operations research (OR) perspective many of these can be very challenging and/or are counterproductive for the stated objective. They can appear in any part of the optimization process that includes problem formulation, modelling, solution and result evaluation. In this paper, we describe and discuss a number of aspects and requirements in industrial implementations where optimization has been a vital planning or execution tool. We discuss the reasons behind the requirements, the OR challenge, how the requirements were approached and implemented and present results and general experience acquired from these implementations. The applications cover tactical, operational and real‐time applications for several areas including transportation, scheduling, routing, inventory and process control.     

Education in OR/MS at a Glance: Results of the First IFORS Survey

An IFORS survey was prepared during 1990/1991 to obtain an international picture of the main features of the educational programs in the field of OR/MS. Seventeen countries sent information concerning a total of 176 programs and major conclusions are presented in this paper.     

Education in OR/MS at a Glance: Results of the First IFORS Survey

An IFORS survey was prepared during 1990/1991 to obtain an international picture of the main features of the educational programs in the field of OR/MS. Seventeen countries sent information concerning a total of 176 programs and major conclusions are presented in this paper.     

The Future IS Organization in a Flat World

ABSTRACT

The business world is becoming increasingly “flat” with regard to access to global markets and a global workforce. New operational priorities are emerging that require new IS capabilities. The linkage between these operational shifts and the changes required by an IS organization to develop new IS capabilities for a flattening world are identified and discussed.     

The Future IS Organization in a Flat World

The business world is becoming increasingly “flat” with regard to access to global markets and a global workforce. New operational priorities are emerging that require new IS capabilities. The linkage between these operational shifts and the changes required by an IS organization to develop new IS capabilities for a flattening world are identified and discussed.     

基于局域世界的加权演化网社团结构

研究基于局域世界的科研合作加权网络的演化时间步长、文章的合作人数及社会网络中考虑亲密关系与否对演化网络社团结构的影响。结果表明,演化网络的Q值不随时间的增长而增加,而是存在一个最优演化时间,使Q达到最大值,随着Q值的增长,网络的社团结构更加明显。将实证科研合作网络与仿真网络进行对比,发现两者的社团结构具有极其相似的特征。     

The Role of OR in Information Systems Strategy Development

Some of the most inspiring OR successes in World War II addressed the deployment of new technology into military operations. Today information technology has strategic implications for most if not all organisations. In addition to their structuring and analytical expertise, OR practitioners have developed skills of intervention, knowledge of how organisations work and experience of implementing change. OR should therefore have much to contribute to information systems strategy development and implementation but there is little evidence of activity in the U.K. at least. The paper considers why this might be the case and challenges the OR community to get involved before it is too late. This lack of activity in the U.K. is particularly surprising given the development of an interest in ‘soft’ OR methods, which are well suited to the development of information systems strategy. As an example, the contribution of ‘soft’ OR methods to the development of an IS strategy for a large retailing chain is described.     

Variety is the spice of life: combining soft and hard OR/MS methods

Some observers have expressed concern over the state of the OR/MS profession, especially as to its failure to tackle complex, messy problems. One response has been to develop various "soft" methods (also called "problem structuring methods") that focus on the human and political aspects of OR/MS interventions. Recent work, both theoretical and practitioner-based, involves the combination of several methods in a particular project (multimethod). Often the combination includes both hard (quantitative) and soft (qualitative) approaches. This paper illustrates the utility of soft methods, and in particular their combination, with recently published case studies. It then proposes an approach to the process of combining methods, including several frameworks and techniques to assist in selecting and linking different methods. Finally, it discusses future research in this field.     

Trust, power and interorganizational information systems: the case of the electronic trading community TransLease

This paper focuses on Cap Gemini’s electronic commerce system, TransLease. TransLease is an interorganizational information system (IOS), which facilitates electronic commerce between motor vehicle leasing and repair companies. During our investigation, the system was used by approximately 1000 repair agents working for seven of the UK’s leading vehicle leasing and contract hire companies. This system was originally developed by AT&T and acquired by Cap Gemini in July 1998. At the time of acquisition, the system was seen as being of high strategic value, although it was also seen as underperforming. This paper reports the results of an action research project, which formed one element of the process by which Cap Gemini investigated the former problem. In the paper, TransLease is described as a complex electronic community, dependent upon the existence of symbiotic relationships. As such, the problems that the system users and developers experienced can be attributed to factors that impeded the mutual benefit accruing from participation in the system. The efficacy of the terms of exchange and the degree to which participants mutually benefit through electronic interaction is determined by the complex interplay of a number of relational and organizational factors. The research therefore illustrates the importance of the ‘soft’ organizational issues in IOS management and development, and suggests a conceptual model of the factors relevant in this case. At the time of this study, TransLease was still in the early stages of its life cycle, having only been available in the marketplace for approximately 18 months. During this time, through recognizing the complex problems and issues detailed in this paper, Cap Gemini accordingly redressed the way in which the system was managed and maintained. TransLease is now seen as having matured into a highly successful example of an IOS – a view reflected by its position as market leader in the industry. As this paper will show, the key to improving the existing service has been the emphasis Cap Gemini now places on managing the ‘soft’ aspects of the electronic community.     

The Hybrid World of Virtual Environments

Much of the work concerned with virtual environments has addressed the development of new rendering technologies or interaction techniques. As the technology matures and becomes adopted in a wider range of applications, there is, however, a need to better understand how this technology can be accommodated in software engineering practice. A particular challenge presented by virtual environments is the complexity of the interaction that is supported, and sometimes necessary, for a particular task. Methods such as finite-state automata which are used to represent and design dialogue components for more conventional interfaces, e.g. using direct manipulation within a desktop model, do not seem to capture adequately the style of interaction that is afforded by richer input devices and graphical models. In this paper, we suggest that virtual environments are, fundamentally, what are known as hybrid systems. Building on this insight, we demonstrate how techniques developed for modelling hybrid systems can be used to represent and understand virtual interaction in a way that can be used in the specification and design phases of software development, and which have the potential to support prototyping and analysis of virtual interfaces.     

面向对象技术中OR映射框架的研究与应用

在中小型应用系统开发中对象数据类型与关系数据库数据类型的转换成为面向对象技术开发中对象持久化问题的“瓶颈”。介绍了传统的对象持久化映射模型的架构,在此基础上设计实现了一种适合中小规模应用开发的OR(object/relational)映射框架,并在框架中应用合适的设计模式,大大方便了应用系统的维护和叠代开发。     

Prospering in a transition economy through information technology-supported organizational learning

Abstract.  This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study of the Slovenian company Sava during its 1995–2004 transition period when it adapted to and prospered in a free market economy. The company is particularly interesting because of its successful transition from a socialist company operating in a protected market to a privatized company operating in a capitalist global market, as well as the pivotal role of information technology (IT)-supported organizational learning that brought about radical change and successful transition. Our investigation of Sava's experiences demonstrates how the company's increasing attention to organizational learning, integration of working and learning, and its constant innovation of products and processes created new needs for IT support that motivated the adoption of new IT systems (such as Lotus Notes, document management systems, SAP), which in turn increased Sava's capacity to learn. Furthermore, our study reveals how the role of IT systems in organizational learning depends on the nature of learning (single-loop, double-loop or triple-loop learning) and the organizational level at which learning takes place (individual, group/department or organization). By providing insight into the emergence of distinct types of IT-supported learning and their vital role in Sava's successful transition, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between IT and organizational learning that is relevant and inspiring to other companies, especially those operating in transition economies.     

The strategic dimension of transactional information systems: some organizational implications

Abstract. Often information systems (IS) are classified in three groups: (a) transactional, used mainly for co-ordination and resource allocation purposes at the operational level of a company; (b) tactical, often employed to support the resource procurement activities typical of middle management; and (c) information systems for strategic decision making, designed to help in the planning and strategy design processes which are the direct responsibility of top management. In general, the amount of care and management attention that companies give to these different types of systems is proportional to their position in this hierarchy: little attention is devoted to the mundane transaction-pushing systems and exquisite care is put into developing the sophisticated decision making aid for the CEO and his/her staff.
The IS/IT literature has been reporting quite commonly cases in which companies have attained or lost great competitive advantages by way of their transactional information systems [for example, Emery Worldwide, Baxter Healthcare ASAP system, and Frontier Airlines]. The aim of this paper is to identify actions that companies can take to realize potential benefits of their IS, in particular from their low-level, transactional IS.
Among other actions, we will conclude that companies would be better off if they: (a) have the IS department at the right place in the organization, staffed with people knowledgeable about the basic nature of the business in which the company is engaged; (b) are sensible to what can be called 'strategic maintenance' of systems, (c) set up a formal procedure for IS planning to ensure coherence between IS plans and business plans, derived, in turn, from business strategy, and (d) keep abreast of the relevant technology.
Several examples taken from European companies are used to illustrate these conclusions.     

Impact of the New Global Environment on US National Security Planning — Challenges to the OR Community

Recent events have changed the world political/military environment from a relatively stable bi-polar one to one with much less regional stability. This paper will describe the impacts of this change on US national security planning. It summarizes the global and national security environment changes, corresponding changes in the analysis activity to support national security planning, some approaches used to conduct analyses in the new environment, and some emerging results.     

现代化小区综合布线方案设计

为适应信息化、网络化的发展,需要为现代化小区设计一套实用的综合布线方案。从方案确定、拓扑结构、详细设计等各方面阐述现代化小区结构化综合布线的设计过程,详细介绍了各个子系统包括工作区子系统、水平子系统、垂直子系统(建筑物主干子系统)、建筑群主干子系统、管理间子系统、设备间子系统等的设计原则,设计时需考虑的问题,使用的设备及应遵循的标准等。     

虚拟社区模式的化学专业网站设计

设计开发了虚拟社区模式的化学网站－－“化学村”，它集成了目前Internet中许多方便实用的交流方式，并设计了一套基于Web的化学专业信息的在线录入方案。运行情况表明，它可以成为化学化工工作者进行专业化知识、学术、信息交流的平台。